[Gpdd] (Health) Re: Tumbleweed's abscess

Stacy Harvey ckrtsqrl2000 at yahoo.com
Wed May 7 13:28:40 EDT 2008


Cindy--
   
  Don't beat yourself up about not finding the abscess right away; the exact same thing happened to me with Willie. My husband was holding him up one day and I was playing with his dewlap when I felt it--it seemed huge! And I felt so guilty about not finding the darn thing, but when Willie was sitting, lying, walking around, etc., you couldn't even see it. I asked my vet about it and she said they can grow very fast and it is not uncommon for them to be overlooked; still I felt like I had neglected my baby.
   
  We put Willie on Baytril at first until the lab results came back that said the infection was from Bacteroides, which is an anaerobic bacteria that Baytril will not work on. We then put him on Metronidizole for 30 days. He hated the stuff and he also stopped eating for a bit. I was force feeding him Critical Care laced with Bene-bac, then hit on the idea to give him Reglan. That finally got his appetite going again. He came through all that fine, but he lost one of his bottom incisors (we think that's where the abscess originated) and now he's developed another lump on his back end, and I think he's developing another bladder stone. *sigh* Poor little guy--every time we get one thing taken care of, something else crops up.
   
  Did your vet have a culture and sensitivity done on the pus from the abscess? As someone mentioned before, chloramphenicol can be used as well; it is effective for anaerobes and conditions like meningitis and bone infections because it can penetrate tissues--something most other antibiotics can't do. But--it is toxic to humans, so many vets don't like to use it. You practically have to put on a HAZMAT suit before giving it to your piggy. It's a wonderful drug, but it doesn't have a very wide margin of safety.
   
  I hope lil' Tumbleweed is feeling better. The Squad will be sending healing wheeks your way.
   
  -Stacy and the Squee Squad

       
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